Man injured in Barabanki ‘encounter’, kin say it was fake

Yadav’s brother-in-law Ritu Raj Singh, who visited him at the hospital, said, “Akash told me that on Wednesday afternoon he was in Sachivalay Colony of Mahanagar area in Lucknow when policemen in plainclothes picked him up. They told his two friends who were with him that they were taking him for questioning and would release him soon. When Akash did not return, his friends informed Poonam. She immediately called the police control room and the Mahanagar police station, but did not get any response.”

“Akash said the cops took him to Barabanki where they stopped the vehicle and asked him to get off. Then a policeman who had his face covered shot him in the leg,” he added. Kesar Baksh said they will lodge a complaint and call for an inquiry.

A native of Barabanki’s Poore Sagar village in Asandara police station area, Akash is a second year LLB student in a Lucknow college.

When contacted, Additional Superintendent of Police (North), Barabanki, Shashi Kant Tiwari said a police team on patrol in the area spotted three persons on a motorcycle near the Nawabganj culvert at around 3 am on Thursday. “When police called them to stop, they fired at them,” he said. “Police retaliated and a bullet hit Akash Yadav and he fell off the motorcycle. While the others fled, Akash was caught.”

On allegations of a fake encounter, ASP said this was not true and there has been no inquiry ordered so far. “Police will seek Akash’s custody to question him about the source of the weapons,” he added. When asked about allegation of fake encounter levelled by the family, DIG (Faizabad Range) Onkar Singh said, “If anyone files complaint with relevant facts and evidence then inquiry would be conducted into allegation.”